


What A Shame

by lovesickmelody



Category: Midnight Poppy Land (Webcomic)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-11
Updated: 2020-05-11
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:34:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,191
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24118072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovesickmelody/pseuds/lovesickmelody
Summary: Tora takes care of Julri - in his own special way - when he stops by unannounced.
Relationships: Past Poppy/Julri, Tora/Poppy
Comments: 27
Kudos: 252





	What A Shame

Poppy was exhausted; it had been a long week. Walking in on Julri. Scooter crashes. Pervy photos. Police stations. Cats up trees. 'Celebrity' rescuers. Horrible business meetings. Running about the city with a mystery man. Heart to hearts with my best friend. Panic educing texts. Dinner with the mystery man. Fighting with him. Waiting to hear from him. Trying to find Mr. Lam. Tailing cars. Lying to cabbies. Chasing bad guys. Getting people hurt. Dragging beat up kids to their teachers. Fighting with him– again. Shopping with the most intimidating man ever. Hugging him. Taking him home. Making him dinner. Holding his hand – again. Fighting over phones and pictures. New business meetings. Hopeful deals. Tracking down mysterious authors. Had it only been a week?! She wanted to sleep for the next day and a half.

Unlocking her apartment door thinking about nothing but a cup of tea and her cozy bed, she stepped through her entryway. She smelled it right away—cigarette smoke. 

"Tora! You can't smoke in here! How did you even get in here?!" Poppy was appalled. Who did this guy think he was?

"Your landlady let me in. I'm fixing the lock on your balcony." His back was to the front door, and tendrils of smoke surrounded him. Poppy could see his arms flexing through the dark green Henley as he tightened a screw. 

"There's nothing wrong with the lock on my balcony!"

That just got an annoyed huff from Tora. "I'm almost done."

"You can't just break-in!"

"Didn't. Like I said, your landlady let me in. Locksmith, remember?" He shot her a smirk over his shoulder as he stood up. "I upgraded your lock and got ya a security bar. Ya slide it in, and the door won't budge."

"I'm on the fourth floor!"

Tora was unamused. "Just use it. I'd like to be able to sleep at night without nightmares of goons crawling through your windows." Come to see him closer, and he did look a little tired. 

"Fine. Now, if you don't mind, I'd really like to go to bed." Tora's eyebrows shot up, and a grin pulled the corners of his mouth up just enough to know where his mind went. 

"Bit sudden, sweetheart, but whatever ya want." He took a small step towards her. 

Cheeks flaming and a laugh bubbling past her lips, "Tora! That's not- I don't-"

Tora laughed. 

_Tora_ laughed. 

Tora _laughed._

"It was too easy. I'll get outta ya hair, just let me show ya how-"

A knock on the door had Tora rising to his full height and grasping Poppy by the wrist and pulling her behind his massive frame, putting a finger to his lips. 

"Popsicle, I heard you laughing. I know your home! Come on, open the door!" 

She couldn't help but flinch at the sound of Julri's voice. Making her flashback to him with another woman in his lap, pants unzipped, and lipstick on his neck and mouth. She could feel the tears welling up in her eyes and tried to blink them away. She turned from Tora and pressed her palms to her eyes and rubbed hard when the blinking didn't help. 

Julri knocked again

"Ya ex? That - ya know?" Tora murmured in her ear. 

All she could do was nod. Tora placed his hand on her lower back and guided her towards the bathroom and gave her a gentle push. "Go in there. Count to a hundred. Slowly. Then say my name." He moved towards the bed. 

"Tora, what are you doing?! " 

Poppy didn't know what to do. Listen to Tora or jump off her balcony. Although with Tora here, there was no doubt in her mind that he would stop her before she even got close to the railing. 

More knocking.

"Go." He was pulling the comforter off the bed and messing up the sheets. He glanced over his shoulder and saw her still standing there, paralyzed. "Go. Count."

//  
Tora grabbed his shirt at the back of his neck and pulled it over his head while he kicked off his shoes and toed off his socks. He tossed his shirt on the ground by the front door and undid the snap on his pants, pushing his boxers lower so they wouldn't show. 

He rubbed at his lips to make them puffy and pinched at the skin at the base of his neck to make it a little red, even using his fingernails to try and imitate a bite mark.

"Come on, Popsicle, I just want to talk." Ugh. Popsicle. His Bobby was way better than the nickname Popsicle. Lazy. This creep was lazy.

Tora ripped the door open and saw a puny guy, with fading hickeys on his neck that he tried, and failed, to cover up. He looked him up and down slowly. "Help ya?" He growled as he leaned against the door and crossed his arms over his chest. He knew the scene he presented to this punk. 

"Uh, I need to speak to Poppy," The dweeb said with his voice trembling, his face white.

Tora reached into his pocket and pulled out his smokes, put a cigarette between his lips, lights it, and takes a drag without breaking eye contact. He tosses the lighter a table by the door. "She's indisposed." Thank fuck Quincey made him listen to the bullshit that he wrote all the time. He'll have to let the Princess know that it worked, caused this loser to go all… splotchy. 

"But, but, but…" He pointed vaguely at Tora's neck. 

"Oh, this?" He reverently touched his neck and closed his eyes for a moment, taking a deep drag. "This is nothing. Ya should see her. Some of my finest work." He even threw in a wink. He thought he was overacting but apparently not. The kid was horrified.

It was taking everything he had not to kill this asshole. But Poppy was here. He couldn't do that while Poppy was here. What a shame.

He waived at the smoke that Tora blew in his face. "Poppy? No, she wouldn't. We never. And you-"

"Tora?" Poppy called from the bathroom.

"Sorry," Tora said with a lewd grin, "Gotta go." He snapped the door in the dork's face and threw the deadbolt. "Here I come, sweetheart!" He said, just loud enough to still be heard through the front door for good measure.

Poppy was coming out of the bathroom, beet red and gaping like a fish out of water, as Tora bent to pick up his shirt. "He shouldn't bother ya again." He pulled his shirt on and bent over again to pick up a pillow he knocked off the bed and set to remaking her bed. It didn't take him long. 

"See ya, Bobby." He pinched her cheek and gave it a little tug. "Call me if he comes back." Poppy was still standing there dumbstruck. "Lock this behind me." He stepped out into the hallway and pulled her front door closed behind himself and waited until he heard the lock click into place before he headed down the stairs. 

If only. 

If only that wasn't all an act.

**Author's Note:**

> I really do think that Poppy would be upset if Tora beat the hell outta Julri. This way he leaves Poppy alone and Tora stays outta trouble with her.


End file.
